Chinese engineers settle with Microsoft, Adobe, Autodesk on piracy

Yuan the money

Microsoft, Adobe and Autodesk have finally dropped the beef with Chinese steel structure engineering outfit Guangzhou Wuyang Steel Structure Co., which is being hailed as a "triumph" against software piracy.

The Chinese company has to fork out for 1.3 million yuan - $198,000 - to the three along with financial damages that were not made public. It's being forced to buy authorised kit including legitimate copies of Windows, as well as Photoshop and Autodesk's AutoCAD, which sounds like a mechanised Victorian womaniser but is actually design software.

No one is commenting. But the Chinese courts accepted the case last year and the agreements have been signed, reports Market Watch.

Software giants are battling to change attitudes over in China about software piracy, especially in the corporate space. Last year Microsoft won a case against Dazhong Insurance for using unlicensed copies of Redmond's software and had to splash out on 2.7 million yuan.

While it's a win, it's a small win: China's a big place and attitudes to using blackmarket software made so easily available will take some time to change.

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Really funny joke about AutoCAD. Wow, what are you, 12? Lame. As a writer for a tech blog, I would think you would know a thing or two about the most widely used computer aided drafting software in the world, and a product that has been around for over 25 years.

It's kind of strange to see a lame joke in an editorial piece, and it really did nothing but highlight your lack of knowledge with one of the largest software companies around.